Kathleen Nance

The heroine is in the swamp of New Orleans for a story about aliens for her article when she stumbles upon an exotic bird snuggling ring and the sexy hero vet who there to stop them. The hero, having lost his powers after defeating a nasty and powerful enemy, is suddenly surprised to find that the heroine gives his strength again. They've met before after an argument which had the heroine pissed drunk after the death of her estranged husband and the hero escorting her out of the party. Words were exchanged and things have been awkward ever since. But now, they realize that they must work together to stop the suffering of the animals. In the middle of all this the heroine is desperately searching for her lost brother and when it's revealed that he's somehow involved in both the smuggling and the magic world, the hero and heroine are put to the test. This is a romantic suspense and as such the actual romance in these types of stories tend to take a back seat to the action but I was pleasantly surprised with the connection between the two characters. The heroine was raped but her power hungry husband before he was murdered so as a result she distrusts and even despises magic users. The hero is a very powerful magic user, more powerful than her husband was so she really should want nothing to do with him but it's the complete opposite. They are drawn together sexually but as a point, the heroine doesn't trust the hero and conceals a lot of information from him even up until the end of the book. But in turn, the hero denies being a magic user (though it's stupidly obvious he is and knows that the heroine knows) and hides his secret Mage world from her as much as possible. He has a tendency to be short tempered and impatient and the heroine was your typical thousand freaking questions reporter but somehow they meshed. There was a lot going on in this story but throughout it was the growing bond between them. The animal cruelty was so hard to read about and absolutely makes me sick how people can hurt innocent creatures. Honestly, I would take a murdered or injured human to a dog any day.… (meer)

A talented magician who is driven by ambition and a desire to be the best, the heroine has no time for dating, or marriage or kids. She dedicated to her career-a free spirit who travels the country, a woman without any ties holding her down. Then her sister runs off to some god forsaken jungle leaving her 4 kids with the heroine. Having zero clue as to how to deal with teenagers, she instead tries to hire a private detective to track her sister down and get her back to the states. She met the hero previously at a friends wedding and they shared an instant and passionate attraction. She's heard that he's the best at finding people so she goes to him for aid. The hero however has vowed to retire and prevent the pain he experiences with the disappointment regarding his missing powers. Always he had the ability of psychometry but lately it's fizzled out. He couldn't help the heroine even if he tried. But that doesn't stop him from desiring her, or asking her out. They go on a few dates, he gets to know her nieces and nephews and they get hot and heavy every free chance they get. But the relationship between them is not so easy. The heroine is being blackmailed by a rich and powerful woman who duped her into unwittingly stealing the hero's jewel. When the heroine finds out that the man she loves is the victim, she's even more disgusted with herself. And when the hero finds out that not only is one of his priceless jewels missing but the woman he loves was the one to take it he's devastated and feeling betrayed. But regardless of the lack of trust between them, he can't let her go. For her he feels a soul deep attraction that burns like a fire within him. And when she tells him the whole story, he comes up with the plan to trick the other woman into taking that fall for the thief. While this is happening, mythological gods are waging a secret war for the fate of the hero and heroine's love. The story plays heavily around the Greek Myths and the hero himself is deeply involved in a world he never truly imagined to be real, even though his life has been filled with the supernatural. And the heroine must find the courage to trust him and to search herself to figure out what she truly wants in life. I thought this book was well written with clever dialogue and an interested plotline. I found the heroine a healthy mix of strong and vulnerable which is something I love in all my characters. Her hypocrisy to make a living during magic yet to be completely against the idea that anyone could possess magical powers was frustrating at times and she was also stubbornly against the idea of a life where she had ties to one place. Though she eventually realized that she lived a lonely and unfulfilling life, she truly was passionate about her career and her joy when doing magic came through the pages. The hero was great. It was heartbreaking to read about him keeping a box of objects to missing people and to touch them everyday with the hope of his ability returning only to be disappointed. He was so in love with the heroine even from the jump that he was willing to just be near her, to have her on her terms yet he was no push over. He fought for what he wanted and he did it without making an ass of himself or coming across as a demanding alpha male. Nice book with great chemistry between the characters.… (meer)

Over the last three months I've managed to read several books and found many of them lacking. I'm not sure if it's because I'm looking for different things when I'm reading or if maybe I need to switch genres. Regardless of the reasons, being bored or frustrated with a novel was not an issue with Dragon Unmasked.

From the moment I started this one, I was hooked. Blame my inner geek for loving the techie angle but it really worked for me. Blended magic and science was a neat concept and one that kept me reading to see what the author would dream up next.

The characters, at least for me, were not flat and I was invested in their emotions and reactions to each other. I found the relationship between the male/female leads to be believable and not forced.

All in all, this book was a pleasure to read.

Would I recommend it to others? Yes, I would. Apparently this book is part of a series, which I just found out. I don't know if you really need to read them in order or not, but I was able to follow this one without reading the first book.… (meer)